God In Each Other – Just For Today Reflection July 7th

We’ve heard it said that we often see God most clearly in one another. We see the truth of this when we practice our Twelfth Step. When we carry the recovery message to another, we sense the presence of a Power greater than ourselves. And as we watch the message take hold, we realize somethingContinue reading “God In Each Other – Just For Today Reflection July 7th”

What If Pressure Isn’t Punishment? – Take The 12 Blog May 2026 By Rick W.

There’s a moment in recovery where life starts pressing in from every side and it feels like everything is falling apart. The relationship is strained. The finances are tight.The emotions are raw. The character defects are impossible to ignore. The loneliness feels louder now that the noise of alcohol, chaos, or compulsions has been turned down. And somewhereContinue reading “What If Pressure Isn’t Punishment? – Take The 12 Blog May 2026 By Rick W.”

Rewiring the Way We Speak, Listen, and Think – Take The 12 Blog June 2026 By Rick W.

Sobriety Didn’t Just Change What I Said, It Changed How I Communicate.  How Recovery Rewired the Way I Speak, Listen, and Think One of the most overlooked miracles of recovery has very little to do with alcohol. Most of us came to Alcoholics Anonymous because drinking had become unmanageable. We stayed because we discovered somethingContinue reading “Rewiring the Way We Speak, Listen, and Think – Take The 12 Blog June 2026 By Rick W.”

From Awareness To Willingness – Step 6/Chapter 4 Of ‘The Prep Steps: Setting Up Action In A.A.’ By Rick W.

Click to read more from Rick W and see articles about Step 1 and Step 2 . I find Rick’s short articles about what he calls the preparation steps from his excellent book ‘The Prep Steps:Setting Up Action In A.A. full of insights and extremely helpful – Bruce M. Step 6: The Preparation for StepContinue reading “From Awareness To Willingness – Step 6/Chapter 4 Of ‘The Prep Steps: Setting Up Action In A.A.’ By Rick W.”

Money – Before And After – As Bill Sees It #177

In our drinking time, we acted as if the money supply were inexhaustible, though between binges we’d sometimes go to the other extreme and become miserly. Without realizing it, we were just accumulating funds for the next spree. Money was the symbol of pleasure and self-importance. As our drinking became worse, money was only anContinue reading “Money – Before And After – As Bill Sees It #177”

The Gift Of Joy Within – Each Day A New Beginning June 28th

Joy fixes us to eternity and pain fixes us to time. But desire and fear hold us in bondage to time, and detachment breaks the bond. —Simone Weil We live both in the material realm and the spiritual. In our material dimension we seek material pleasures, inherent in which is pain. Our human emotions areContinue reading “The Gift Of Joy Within – Each Day A New Beginning June 28th”

Letting Go Of Old Beliefs – The Language Of Letting Go June 23rd By Melody Beattie

Try harder. Do better. Be perfect. These messages are tricks that people have played on us. No matter how hard we try, we think we have to do better. Perfection always eludes us. Messages of perfectionism are tricks because we can never achieve that goal. We cannot feel good about ourselves or what we haveContinue reading “Letting Go Of Old Beliefs – The Language Of Letting Go June 23rd By Melody Beattie”

Step 1: From Illusion To Surrender – Chapter 1 Of ‘The Prep Steps: Setting Up Action In A.A.’ By Rick W.

Rick W has written a short, outstanding book about the linkage between preparation and taking the actions suggested in the Twelve Steps. He explains the challenge he addresses with his book this way: I began to notice that the Steps didn’t just ask me to act, they taught me how to become ready to act.Continue reading “Step 1: From Illusion To Surrender – Chapter 1 Of ‘The Prep Steps: Setting Up Action In A.A.’ By Rick W.”

Practicing The Twelve Steps And Finding Real Freedom – Epilogue ‘The Fix’ By Ian Morgan Cron

We’re on this earth to learn how to “bear the beams of love,” as William Blake wrote, to lean into the Spirit, to avail ourselves of healing, to ease the burdens of others, and not rely on overeating, drinking, drugging, watching porn, compulsively controlling people, or any other repetitive, self-medicating behaviors to escape reality andContinue reading “Practicing The Twelve Steps And Finding Real Freedom – Epilogue ‘The Fix’ By Ian Morgan Cron”

Practicing Surrender – Extract From Progloue/Epilogue Of Surrender To Love By David Benner

How does surrender address the fundamental reality of ‘lack of power, that was our dilemma’ (BB p.45) ? What is the dynamic between the surrender of offering myself or abandoning myself and finding who I really am … my true self … distinguishing the true from the false ? Is it possible that to “thineContinue reading “Practicing Surrender – Extract From Progloue/Epilogue Of Surrender To Love By David Benner”